No. 16 Mississippi State Unable to Secure Series Sweep
No. 25 South Carolina beats Bulldogs 3-1 in Sunday’s series finale
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Sunday’s series finale against No. 25 South Carolina gave No. 16 Mississippi State a chance to get its first series sweep against an SEC team.
The Bulldogs had already clinched the series victory with a pair of shutout wins on Friday and Saturday, 6-0 and 4-0, but a series sweep headed into a gauntlet of highly ranked SEC opponents to end the season would be a big morale and momentum booster.
But the Gamecocks had their own plans. Alana Vawter, who was South Carolina’s losing pitcher Friday, held the Bulldogs’ offense in check for most of the game and Bree Warren hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give the Gamecocks a 3-1 victory.
Vawter (12-6) pitched all seven innings and held MSU to only four hits, two walks and two strikeouts. MSU’s Josey Marron (9-5) put in a strong complete-game performance, too. She allowed six hits and three walks while striking out three batters.
For the first time this weekend, MSU wasn’t the first team to get on the scoreboard. South Carolina’s Zoe Laneaux hit an RBI single through the middle of the infield in the first inning. The lead, though, didn’t last long. With two outs, Kylee Edwards snuck a ground ball past South Carolina’s shortstop that allowed Jessie Blaine to score.
Both the Bulldogs and Gamecocks were helped with replay reviews. South Carolina had a fourth inning two-run home run overturned because a runner left base early and ended the inning without any runs scored.
The next inning, replay review overturned MSU’s second out on a close play at second, which gave South Carolina runners at first and second with only one out. The Gamecocks were able to load the bases with two outs for Laneaux. She nearly had a multi-RBI swing with a hard hit line drive, but the ball was low enough for Edwards to make the catch and end the inning without any runs scored.
The Gamecocks got their 3-1 lead back with Warren’s double to right field that scored two runs. MSU got one runner on base in the seventh inning but were unable to muster any more offense to end the game.
The Bulldogs will return to Starkville for a midweek game against South Alabama at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Two days later, they’ll start a three-game series against No. 4 Tennessee (30-6, 10-2 SEC).